Leaving job & pausing career to attend MPA program

[Unsure14]

Hi everyone. To give some background I decided to apply on a whim to Maxwell at Syracuse for their MPA program and surprisingly got in with funding (half). I have always wanted to go to grad school, but I'm struggling with it now that the opportunity has presented itself. I currently work in the economic development field as the communications assistant at a non-profit that focuses on economic development. I sincerely love my job, however I'm certainly not making a killing (I make less than $50k). With this being said, I have concerns that my background (I have a BA in integrated marketing communications) will stunt my growth potential if I want to stay in the public sector world (ie I will forever be a communications assistant and never will become a Director). Has anyone else has the experience of leaving a job they love to pursue an MPA? And if so was it with it? I'm terrified that I'm going to leave my job only to end up back in the unemployed frenzy to find a new job after graduating. Im also considering proposing an educational leave of absence to my boss, but who knows how well that will go over..

Any thoughts on this are welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

[PParker]

Wow...I am actually in the same situation, although I am def attending. I also surprisingly received $$. My advice is think very carefully about what you REALLY want to do before pursuing grad school, and if you can get to where you need to get to without going for the MPA. My take is that I think it's worth it at top tier schools, and Maxwell seems to fall in there, so I don't think there is that big of a risk, especially if you're making less than 50k a year. I do think for what you want to do (stay in the public sector) an MPA with your work experience would be a great asset...good luck

[Gov2School]

So I'm currently employed in a field/job that I love and I've been lucky to have a good career thus far.  I faced a similar dilemma when I decided to go back for my MPA, especially because I already had a good career going and I didn't want to lose touch with my network while I was away at school for two years.  I was reaching a point however where I felt like I was hitting a wall in terms of my growth prospects.  When I was ready to move on to my next job, the kinds of things I was being offered (which would have thrilled me to the core when I was coming out of undergrad) were no longer the jobs that I wanted.  I was too experienced, and they were too similar to the job I already had. I wanted to be challenged, to grow, and to move forward in my career.  But the problem was, the jobs that I wanted, that I felt I had the experience to do, I wasn't being considered for because I didn't have a Masters degree.  So for me, getting an MPA is a little bit like hitting the reset button.  It gives me chance to get out of the career track I've been in for a while, take a break, and then come back ready to compete for those next level jobs.  Of course, as soon as I made the decision to do the MPA I got offered a new job that I do love, so I'm trying to defer for a year so I can stay a bit longer.  

 

My biggest piece of advice would be to consider the people who are one or two levels above you.  If you're an assistant, look at the directors or the chiefs of staff.  What kind of degree/background do they have?  When you see positions similar to theirs advertised, what kind of degrees are asked for?  I also found it really helpful to just have honest discussions with my chief of staff and my bosses about my future grad school plans.  They were all very receptive and supportive.  They had good perspective about what they did/wished they did/didn't do.  Seek out the people at your work who you think are the most competent or have the jobs you find the most interesting (even if they're senior people) and ask them for 15 min of their time to talk about how they got to where they are.  That kind of information can be really powerful. 

 

Another important thing is to think less about salary and more about growth potential.  This is something that Sheryl Sandberg wrote about in Lean In that I found really relevant, women especially (you may not be female, I think this still applies) tend to focus more on security and less on growth opportunities, which can limit their ability to advance.  There is a certain amount of risk in leaving to get a degree, but it may be better to take that risk then find yourself working the same job/same kinds of jobs for several more years.  Especially if you can balance out some of the risk with institutional funding.  

Edited March 24, 2014 by Gov2School

[Ana Pascal]

I'm leaving a reasonably good job, also generally in communications, and I don't think my undergrad studies were or will be a waste in any way. And if it makes you feel better, I'm walking away from higher earnings than you, as well. 

 

For better or worse, communication is a really flexible field, and the skills should serve you well if you aspire to move into different realms of the public sector.

 

I think getting a grad degree (that is in line with your current experience and future goals) is basically a guarantee that your job growth won't become stunted. If anything, I think having only a comm degree could hold a person back. (Which is why I'm going back to school!)

[awex]

Hi,

 

I'm in a similar situation, too! I have been with a nonprofit (more in the volunteer management area in contrast to your Communications side) for about 2.5 years. It is very scary to think that I will be stepping away from a FT job to go back to school knowing that so many people are struggling to find jobs. It's a big leap, but I feel it is necessary to move up the ladder in the field (at least from my experience). At my organization, there is not a lot of opportunity for upward mobility since it is a small nonprofit. Every time I look at job postings for different (somewhat higher) positions at outside organizations, they usually have a Masters as part of the requirements. I'm not content staying in entry level forever so I am hoping grad school helps instead of just leaving me unemployed at the end. Here's to hoping

 

Congrats on your acceptance and funding!

[awex]

@Gov2School I read Lean In a few months ago and that theme really struck me. It helped me understand that my focus on growth opportunities and advancement was OK (in contrast to some friends of mine just looking for security that made me question my thoughts/aspirations) and perfectly acceptable as a life choice for me. It also helped me make my decision that leaving a secure job to better myself is what I need at this point in my career.

 

It is nice to see many others in a similar boat, though. At least we are not alone. I've been thinking a lot recently about the consequences of leaving a secure job so this thread was a nice breath of fresh air!

[quincepessa]

I second @Gov2School's advice - Look at job postings for the kind of job you'd like to have next or in a couple years. That helped me figure out that I needed another degree to keep moving along. But your mileage may vary.

[Howie]

After quitting your job, how do you guys plan on staying afloat financially while in grad school? Working part time? And potentially in a different field? I am in a similar situation.

[Gov2School]

After quitting your job, how do you guys plan on staying afloat financially while in grad school? Working part time? And potentially in a different field? I am in a similar situation.

 

Before I even started applying for programs, I decided that I wasn't going to try to have any kind of professional job while attending school.  Keeping my current job would be out of the question anyway (the hours are not flexible to accommodate a full time student) and trying to work during the day/go to school at night just seemed like I wouldn't really have time to do either thing well.   Plus I'm looking forward to the chance to live someplace else and experience something new. Of course, you have to decide what works with your individual financial picture will allow.   

 

So with that in mind, I'm only really considering schools where I'm getting funding or where I could support myself on loans without a crippling debt burden. I've been lucky to get a few offers.   I will probably try to work as a teaching assistant or some other school related job my second year. I may try to look for a babysitting/tutoring/restaurant type job once I have a sense of my expenses and my schedule.   In the meantime I'm basically just doing what all the schools advise on their blogs: cutting down on other debt (especially credit card debt) and saving as much as possible.  If I defer, that will give me more time to save as well.  

 

A few friends currently in grad school already advised me that outside of any aid or loans I should try to build up a small nest egg that I can rely on right at the start of the school year, when you might have a lot of incidental expenses. 

[awex]

@Howie - My reply is very similar to Gov2School.

 

As much as I wanted to pursue a grad degree along side my current job, it just would not work out at this point.

 

I am in an area that has a lot of colleges/universities around, but none offered the program I was looking for. I moved to this area of the country just for this job after college and was not looking to stay here long term anyway. I tossed around the idea of doing an online program, but I decided I want more of a community feel for my grad experience. Also, my current FT job would make it difficult to schedule classes and etc. I do not have a straight 9 to 5 -- some days I work until midnight or later, others I start early in the morning. Some days are 5 hour days, while others are 14+. Since I do not have a real definitive schedule, I was afraid I would not be able to schedule classes/work around it.

 

As far as money and staying financially afloat is concerned, this is a big concern of mine. I do not have a savings that I can rely on and I still have some undergrad loans, as well. Like Gov2School, I am really only considering schools with funding packages. This makes the process a little harder for me (having to turn down schools I really like ) since, while I was accepted into all schools (still waiting to hear from one), I only received funding from 2. I am leaning towards Indiana right now as they offered me a fellowship with a small stipend that I can use for rent. I am hoping to get a part time job (if at all possible) to help cover the cost of other expenses. My fellowship will be working in the nonprofit field, so a PT job could be anywhere (retail, restaurant, babysitting, etc) just to get some cash. I'm not too concerned about the field it falls under. 

 

It's definitely a lot to consider and sometimes makes me very anxious!

Edited March 25, 2014 by birdie

[samiam]

Can you defer the Maxwell offer for a year? You say you love your job now, but you might find in a year's time that you have learnt all you can from it and are starting to feel stale, which would then be the ideal time to go back to school. It also gives you a year to save as much as you can so you can be under less financial pressure from loans etc once you are looking for a post-graduation job.

[Unsure14]

Thank you for the thoughtful responses, everyone! It's reassuring to feel like I'm not alone in this, and the encouragement that choosing to go to grad school isn't the end of the world means a lot. @SamIAm- deferring is absolutely still an option- and one that I am taking quite seriously- but I would obviously have to sacrifice any funding I received for this year and re-apply for it next year. While this is not necessarily a deal-breaker for the deferment option, it definitely creates the potential to end up missing out on highly coveted funding that I quite honestly can't pursue grad school without.

[Ana Pascal]

I think funding is so important. Knowing that you work in nonprofit, my advice if you are considering deferring is to sit and calculate exactly how much money you could save over the next 16 months or so (the time period before Fall 2015).

 

Last year I applied to one local school, and then deferred because I loved my job and because the school hadn't offered any funding. Since then, I've been able to save about $20k, which is awesome. For me, waiting was worth it.

 

But knowing you already have a great offer from a great school, your decision might be pretty different. Losing that funding would be pretty rough. 

[pavlik]

I'm in a similar position to many who've already posted here. I have a good job with a nonprofit, but I'd like to move into a more policy-oriented, political job and build more hard mathematical skills. There's not much room for advancement in my current organization without an advanced degree (CEO has an MPP/MPH, department head has MPP/JD, lots of MPHs scattered throughout the various departments given our work). If I opt for a DC school (Georgetown MSPP is looking more and more like my #1 choice), then I may stay on part-time at my job (I've spoken briefly about it with my supervisor, who is entirely amenable to the idea) for a time while I transition to school/find a more relevant internship or university position. 

 

Make sure you leave your current jobs on good terms. Your graduation is far away now, but it may well be the case that your current employer will have an opening for you when you graduate, whether it be your old job (not ideal but a good safety net) or a new one. It never hurts to discuss the possibility. 

[usdenick]

I'm so glad someone posted about this because it's been on my mind a lot as well. I'm in a position where I have a good job and could probably still move up one or two rungs on the ladder (maybe even further) without a grad degree. 

 

I always thought that grad school was a no-brainer, but I honestly wished I had thought more about the option of not going before I applied. I think that in some career fields, you can work your way up without a grad degree, but it's harder and probably takes longer. 

 

In the end, I'm hoping that an MPA will give me more flexibility to apply to different jobs and not have to rely on being promoted based on my performance at a current company alone. 

 

That having been said, I think that it's really important to think about the financial aspects of this decision. If you have a good job and there is an opportunity for continued salary growth, maybe it doesn't make sense to go into a ton of debt for grad school. However, if you're just a few years out of undergrad and can go for a reasonable amount of debt, it may be worth it so that not having a grad degree won't hold you back in the future.

[MaxwellAlum]

I attended the Maxwell School after having worked at a nonprofit for a couple of years.  For me, it was a great decision - my skills and interests weren't suited to progressing within the nonprofit I was in, and more importantly, I realized I really wanted to get into a more analytical/policy role.  Now that I have my MPA (and MAIR), I'm doing the kind of work I really want to be doing, and I now have the quantitative background to really shine in my job.  For me, it was about getting my career on the track I wanted it to be on, not necessarily to move up (my first job out of grad school was very much entry level).  The MPA gives you the network and credibility to get your foot in the door and can give you the skills to move up (though you will learn most skills on the job).  Where I work (local government), I suspect if you already have your foot in the door, whether or not you have a graduate degree doesn't matter that much for progressing to middle management - a master's degree often officially counts as equivalent to one year of experience.  The degree might help you if you want to change jobs down the road, though your experience will matter more.  For high profile director-level jobs, which are political appointments, not having a graduate degree *might* hold you back, but it's more about who you know.

[kingofthehill110]

Unsure14, I PMed you this information but figured I would share with the board. I also got into Maxwell with decent funding but was always planning on deferring while my wife finishes her school. I got worried with the assumption that funding would go away if I deferred which would make Maxwell a lot less appealing. I contacted the admissions office and they said that as long as they knew I was deferring the money would still be there next year. I don't know if this is the case for all types of funding but it is certainly worth checking if you are thinking about deferment.

[Gov2School]

Yes, definitely check with the school, don't just assume you'll lose the funding.  Every school has their own deferral policy, and some are specific to the type of scholarship you receive.   If you defer at SIPA, for instance, you lose all consideration for fellowship funding, meaning that if you're accepted for Fall 2014, but defer to Fall 2015, you won't be reconsidered for fellowships during winter/spring 2015.  You have to apply all over again if you want to be considered for funding (though they make the reapplication process pretty easy and you don't have to resubmit all materials).  But at Harvard, you are able to reapply for funding the winter before you enroll if you defer, so while you lose your original funding offer, you get a second bite at the apple (no guarantee you'd get the same funding, but you can try).  Other schools let you keep your funding even if you defer. Don't be afraid to call or email and make your case.  At least they can tell you what the rules are, and then that can help you make your decision.